CT Ravi’s objection to Karnataka flag, an insult to Kannadigas, says Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Kannada and culture minister C.T. Ravi's opposition to a state flag for Karnataka was on Friday called “an insult to Kannadigas” by Congress leaders, especially former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who had proposed it while in government.

The proposal for a state flag was made by the Siddaramaiah government in March, 2018 ahead of the assembly elections and forwarded to the Union government for its approval.

With Mr Ravi now finding the idea unacceptable, Mr Siddaramaiah tweeted, "It is wrong on the part of Kannada and culture minister, CT Ravi to oppose our state flag. The state is not barred by the Constitution or any law to have its own state flag. The BJP government's stand is against the sentiments of Kannadigas.”

Claiming that Mr Ravi's intention seemed to be to create a controversy and gain political mileage, he demanded.

“Have we not accepted our state anthem? Has that in any way insulted our national anthem? All we need to do is hoist other flags below the national flag.”

Recalling that many Kannada activists, including Dr Patil Puttappa were keen on a state flag and an expert committee had looked into it and designed the flag which was submitted to the Union govt for its approval, he said, “I advise him (Ravi) to work hard at getting the proposal cleared by the Union government instead of squandering his ministerial chances.” Also reacting sharply to Mr Ravi's comments, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundurao called them an insult to Kannadigas. "Just to please certain people, it is not right to hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas,” Mr Rao tweeted.

In its proposal to the Centre, the Siddaramaiah government had requested it to include the Karnataka flag in the schedule of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1950.

The proposed yellow, white and red state flag had the state's emblem 'Gandaberunda' or the two-headed mythological bird, at its centre. In May 2018 a Union home ministry official had said the proposal had been put on hold in view of the model code of conduct being in force for assembly polls at the time.